봄

봄 U+BD04, 봄 HANGUL SYLLABLE BOM Composition: ㅂ + ㅗ + ㅁ ← 봃 [U+BD03] Hangul Syllables 봅 → [U+BD05]

보복볶볷본볹볺 볻볼볽볾볿봀봁 봂봃봄봅봆봇봈 봉봊봋봌봍봎봏
볘 ←	→ 봐

Jeju

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /po̞m/

Noun

봄 (bom)

1. spring, springtime

Korean

Etymology 1

First attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean 봄〮 (Yale: pwóm). The etymology beyond Middle Korean is not clear:

• Middle Korean nouns ending in /-m/ are often substantives of verbs, but the only relevant verb is 보다〮 (Yale: pwò-tá, “to see”), which seems semantically unrelated.
• Some online sources claim a connection to the element 봄 (Yale: pwom) in the Middle Korean compound verb 봄놀다 (Yale: pwom-nwolta, “to romp; to spring about in play”), whose second element is 놀〯다〮 (Yale: nwǒltá, “to play”). If valid, the semantics would be similar to English spring. It is not clear whether this has been suggested in academia.

However, it appears more likely that 봄 (Yale: pwom) is an allomorph of *봅 (Yale: pwop), nasalized by the following /n/; compare ablaut variant 붑괴다 (Yale: pwup-kwoyta, “to seethe”).

• It has been tentatively proposed that this is an ancient pre-Sino-Korean borrowing from Old Chinese 芃 (OC *[b]ˤ[o]m, “luxuriant growth (of foliage)”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [po̞m]
• Phonetic hangul: [봄]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	bom
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	bom
McCune–Reischauer?	pom
Yale Romanization?	pom

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 봄의 / 봄에 / 봄까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable, unless it is 에.

Noun

봄 • (bom)

1. spring, springtime

   Hypernym: 계절(季節) (gyejeol, “season (of the year)”)

Coordinate terms

Seasons in Korean · 사철 (四철, sacheol), 사계 (四季, sagye, “four seasons”) (layout · text) · category
봄 (bom, “spring”)	여름 (yeoreum, “summer”)	가을 (ga'eul, “fall; autumn”)	겨울 (gyeoul, “winter”)

Derived terms

• 봄가뭄 (bomgamum, “spring drought”)
• 봄갈이 (bomgari, “spring tilling, ploughing”)
• 봄나물 (bomnamul, “spring greens”)
• 봄날 (bomnal, “spring day”)
• 봄날씨 (bomnalssi, “spring weather”)
• 봄눈 (bomnun, “spring snow”)
• 봄바람 (bombaram, “spring breeze”)
• 봄비 (bombi, “spring rain”)
• 봄빛 (bombit, “spring scenery”)
• 봄철 (bomcheol, “springtime”)

 

See also

• 春 (chun), the hanja for spring

Etymology 2

See the main entry.

Noun

봄 • (bom)

1. Substantive form of 보다 (boda, “to see”): seeing

Middle Korean

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /póm/

Noun

봄〮 (pwóm) (locative 보ᄆᆡ〮 (pwòm-óy))

1. spring (season)

Descendants

• Korean: 봄 (bom)